Comatose PMA cadet shows ‘major signs of progress’ after robbery, shooting

Cadet 1st Class Alfonso Aviles

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Military Academy cadet who is in a coma after he was shot when he tried to prevent a robbery last week in Quezon City is showing “major signs of progress”, the military said Friday.

Citing the latest medical bulletin from V. Luna Medical Center, Cadet Alfonso Aviles “scratched his stomach with his right hand. He moved his toes on his right foot. Tracheal bleeding has also stopped, Blood transfusion has stopped,” said Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, spokesman for the military.

Aviles was inside a passenger jeepney when an unidentified suspect declared holdup at the corner of Regalado and Mindanao Avenue in Greater Lagro village on Saturday. He tried to prevent the robbery and got shot in the neck.

He was in Manila to serve as a proctor for the PMA entrance examination held last Sunday. He was granted a “pass” by his officer-in-charge to visit his family in Bulacan and was on his way back to the billeting area when the incident happened.

Burgos said the military has tapped its intelligence operatives to work with the police in hunting down the suspect.